Well, to answer your question about opponents and tournaments, I have never played in a tournament. I play with my friends, or with whoever shows up at the local game shop. I would like to think I could at some point be a tournament level player, but at this time I hold no illusions about that.
My goal was not to focus on firepower or close combat, but to blend the two together. So often I see people advising new players to shoot up close combat armies, and assault shooty armies. I guess my intent was to be able to do both of those things. I recognize that many of my squads are small, but for the Elite choices that was intentional, to make sure they could fit in the back of the Falcons. To me the Hawks all so seem to be most efficient in small squads, either using their Haywire Grenades to drop vehicles or the Yo-yoing Pieplate tactic against swarms. The Yo-Yo also gives them resilience, because they will not be caught by enemy shooting or assault.
Now, the Spiders I would gladly consider making a larger squad, 8 or so I suppose, but I did not have the points. However, based on some of your comments, I have considered revising the list to look like this:
HQ:
Autarch w/Jetbike, Laser Lance, Mandiblasters & Fusion Gun.
140 pts
Farseer w/ Jetbike, Runes of Warding, Singing Spear & Doom.
128 pts
Troops:
Dire Avengers x 10. Exarch w/ Bladestorm, Defend & Dual Shuriken Catapults.
167 pts
Wave Serpent w/ Shuriken Cannon, T-L Shuriken Cannon, Vectored Engines & Spirit Stones.
140 pts
Dire Avengers x 10. Exarch w/ Bladestorm, Defend & Dual Shuriken Catapults.
167 pts
Wave Serpent w/ Shuriken Cannon, T-L Shuriken Cannon, Vectored Engines & Spirit Stones.
140 pts
Elite:
Howling Banshees x 10. Exarch w/ Executioner’s Sword.
182 pts
Wave Serpent w/ Shuriken Cannon, T-L Shuriken Cannon, Vectored Engines & Spirit Stones.
140 pts
Fire Dragons x 6. Exarch w/ Dragon’s Breath Flamer & Crack Shot.
113 pts
Fast Attack:
Swooping Hawks x 6. Exarch w/ Hawk’s Talon, Intercept & Skyleap.
168 pts
Warp Spiders x6. Exarch w/ Dual Death Spinner, Power Blades & Withdraw.
174 pts
Heavy Support:
Falcon w/ Shuriken Cannon x2, Vectored Engines, Holo-Fields & Spirit Stones.
195 pts
1854 Total Points
As you can see this is an incomplete list. Some things I would think about doing are:
Squeeze in a Fire Prism.
Increase the Warp Spiders to 8 strong.
Drop something to make room for Shining Spears, to go with the Autarch.
If anything had to be taken out, I think it would have to be the Swooping Hawks. I like them, but the Spiders are more durable on the table, and they have no points wasted. With the Hawks, they are either vehicle hunters or Yo-yoing, but it is not practical to do both, so either way points go unused. I like the versatility, which is why I was okay with this before. But if I am going to beef up the list they will probably end up getting dropped.
However, as it stands I think these changes address some of your concerns about my list. Everything is either fast or has a transport, no leapfrogging necessary. Runes of Warding fit in now, providing protection against abusive strategies such as Tigurius/FotD.
I like the boost to my armies anti-MEQ capabilities. That is why I originally had two squads of banshees instead of a Scorpions (though they can do the job in a pinch, it is not their strongest ability). With the loss of the Scorpions, Eldritch Storm, and possibly the Swooping Hawks, my ability to deal with Swarms will be hindered, but that can be mitigated by the inclusion of the Fire Prism.
Boosting the Warp Spiders and adding Shining Spears would give me more punch against Monstrous Creatures, which would also be useful I think. However, if I have to drop the Swooping Hawks to do that, I am losing out against Tanks. I think I could survive that change though, as the Fire Dragons, Autarch, and massive quantities of Strength 6 Firepower would still be able to do the job (except perhaps against Necrons, but I have not seen any Necron armies in my area lately).
Damn, just when I thought I was ready to go, now I feel like I'm re-writing the entire list. Not to mention I'll need more models. DOH!
So much for "Finishing Touches".